Kingdom Greyhound Stadium
| Location | Brewery Road, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°16'29.9"N 9°42'00.0"W |
| Operated by | Irish Greyhound Board |
| Date opened | 1930 |
| Race type | greyhound racing |
| Official website | |
Kingdom Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track located in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. [1] It has been known as Oakview Park and the Tralee Greyhound Stadium previously.
Racing takes place every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday evening and the facilities include a grandstand restaurant, fast food facilities, a number of bars, totalisator betting and ample seating. It is conveniently located within walking distance of Tralee town centre and also has a large car park around the stadium.[2]
Race distances are 500, 525, 550, 570, and 750 yards and the feature competitions at the track are the Juvenile Classic and the Race of Champions. [3]
History
A track known as the Ardfert Greyhound track in Ardfert opened in August 1929 but unfortunately closed the same year as a result of a larger track arriving in Oakview Village nearer to the Tralee town centre. The first meeting was held on 9th April 1930 at Oakview Park and the circumference was 476 yards making for a nice comfortable course for the greyhounds.[4]
The great Ballyhennessy Seal made his debut here in 1943 followed by Spanish Battleship, Ballymac Ball, Priceless Border and Patricias Hope, a quite remarkable list of greyhounds that graced the track over the years. In addition a series of competitions have been introduced over the years providing the Tralee public with regular annual events. The events were the Bloom 500, Harp Lager Stakes, Rose of Tralee, Clarke Cup, Kingdom Puppy Cup, Monalee Hiker Stakes and the MJ Hannafin Memorial Cup. The last mentioned event the MJ Hannafin Memorial Cup was named in memory of the Racing Manager at the track when it opened in 1930. His brothers to Jerry and Dennis Hannafin were two highly respected trainers in the industry. [5]
MJ Hannafin was Racing Manager until 1950 and then the hot seat was taken up by Kevin Laide for over thirty years before John Ward took over. [6]
Recent events
At the turn of the century many Irish tracks received a boost from the Irish Greyhound Board with refurbishment on the agenda. Tralee was no exception and underwent a major refit with the stadium redesigned for the new Millennium under the ownership of the Board.
Two new competitions the Juvenile Classic and Race of Champions have been introduced and they have quickly established themselves as leading feature events in the Irish racing calendar despite the fact that they have only been inaugurated in recent years.[7] The stadium underwent further upgrading in 2012 following extra investment by the Irish Greyhound Board.
Competitions
References
- ↑ "Kingdom Greyhound Stadium". Kerry Tourism.
- ↑ "Kingdom Greyhound Stadium". Irish Greyhound Board.
- ↑ "Tralee". Greyhound Data.
- ↑ Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN 07207-1106-1.
- ↑ Genders, Roy (1981). The Encyclopedia of Greyhound Racing. Pelham Books Ltd. ISBN 07207-1106-1.
- ↑ Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File. Ringpress Books. ISBN 0-948955-15-5.
- ↑ "Irish Greyhound Board Has published the classic and feature events calendar for 2016.". Irish Greyhound Board.